The book of the famous historian Boris Belenkin presents a number of historical portraits of famous characters of the era of the revolution and the Civil War - adventurers, "moths" of the Russian turmoil. Each essay is written on the basis of an extensive range of sources, including the first use of many archival documents, materials from rare, hard-to-reach emigrant publications. Fascinating, dynamic, action-packed short stories (each of which could form the basis of an adventure novel or film) are designed to return readers' interest in the recent Russian past.